Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi, << PUHN diht, vih JY uh LAHK shmee >> (1900-1990), one of India‘s most famous women, became known for her work in government and for her interest in the women’s movement. Pandit was appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1947, and ambassador to the United States in 1949. From 1953 to 1954, she served as the first woman president of the United Nations General Assembly. She then became Indian high commissioner in the United Kingdom.
Pandit became ambassador to Ireland in 1955 and ambassador to Spain in 1958. She held both posts until 1961. Pandit served as governor of the Indian state of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. She served in India’s Parliament from 1964 to 1967 and retired from public life in 1968.
Pandit was born Swarup Kumari Nehru on April 18, 1900, in Allahabad. She later used her caste name, pandit, as her last name. Like her father and brother, Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru, she took a prominent part in India’s struggle for independence and was jailed several times. Her brother served as India’s prime minister from 1947 to 1964. Indira P. Gandhi—her niece and Jawaharlal’s daughter—became prime minister of India in 1966. In 1977, Pandit campaigned against her niece’s political party because she opposed the way it had restricted freedom in India. Pandit died on Dec. 1, 1990.
See also Gandhi, Indira; Nehru.
